For culinary icon Nigella Lawson, Christmas is a time to savour the simple joys of being at home with loved ones, surrounded by the warm glow of fairy lights and the irresistible aromas of holiday cooking. She describes the festive season as a cocooning experience, filled with cosiness, companionship, and, of course, delicious food. “What I love in particular is that sense of cocooning at home cosily when it’s cold and dark outside,” Nigella shares. “There’s a warm glow that comes from fairy lights and candles that is utterly transporting: all I want to add to that is good food, my family, and my friends.”
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Nigella’s love for Christmas and cooking shines through in every dish she creates. From revisiting cherished recipes to crafting new ones inspired by her travels, her culinary philosophy is rooted in making life both easier and more flavourful. With her characteristic flair, she shares recipes designed to bring joy to every stage of the festive season—whether it’s a quiet night by the fire or a bustling holiday gathering.
This holiday season, she is bringing her passion for Christmas and her love of cooking to life with a festive celebration of flavours and traditions. In her new special, Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas, she offers viewers a glimpse into her kitchen, where she combines her knack for storytelling with recipes that bring comfort, joy, and a sprinkle of magic to the holiday table. This special will take viewers on a journey through Nigella’s favourite spots in Amsterdam, featuring her signature approach of captivating narrative storytelling that audiences adore.
A Festive Feast to Remember
With deep family roots stretching back generations, Nigella’s connection to Amsterdam is as personal as it is profound. Over the years, her visits have become a tapestry of cherished memories, the glimmer of lights dancing on the canals, the comforting sight of bundled-up locals sipping Claret Cup, the enticing aroma of spice-laden breads wafting through the air, and the satisfying crunch of icing-topped cookies. Nigella invites viewers to share in her love for the city and its festive magic.
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Her holiday menu is a tribute to Amsterdam’s rich culinary heritage, artfully blending traditional flavours with her own creative flair. Highlights include: An Indonesian biryani inspired by Amsterdam’s thriving Indonesian food scene, a no-bake advocaat and ginger cake, Speculaas, the beloved Dutch spiced biscuits, Dutch-style mussels and, in true Nigella fashion, the celebration will be sprinkled with surprises—including a festive cocktail that captures the season’s enchantment. “I feel so inspired by Amsterdam, and wanted to convey why, rather than simply recreate a traditional Dutch Christmas,” Nigella explains. “I chose recipes that spoke to me particularly and shaped them in a way that makes sense alongside our festive eating traditions.”
Nigella also introduces some exciting twists on old favourites, including a reimagined version of her beloved bar nuts, Dutch-inspired cheese biscuits, and a spectacular cocktail to kick off the celebrations. “I’ve returned to an old favourite, the bar nuts I’ve been making for around 30 years now, but with a rather different new twist,” she says. “Plus, I’ve borrowed from the glorious Dutch festive baking tradition for sweet treats to serve alongside the mince pies this year.”
Cooking with Heart and Tradition
Nigella’s recipes are thoughtfully curated to reflect her deep love for Christmas traditions and her desire to make holiday cooking accessible and enjoyable. She draws on her own festive memories, blending them with culinary inspiration from her travels and her family’s history, to create dishes that feel both timeless and innovative. “I’m always hungry for new ideas for meals over the whole of the festive period,” she says. “I drew on the Dutch larder for a simple seafood feast to ring the changes in this meat-heavy time, and turned to Amsterdam’s Indonesian food culture for inspiration for an aromatic chicken biryani.”
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From baking sweet treats to crafting no-fuss showstoppers, Nigella’s approach to cooking embodies the spirit of the season: sharing warmth, creating memories, and savouring the joy of good food with loved ones.
Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Kitchen
Nigella’s years of experience as a home cook have given her valuable insights into managing the often-hectic holiday season. Her advice? Plan ahead and embrace recipes that can be prepared in stages. “If everything has to be done at the last minute, it becomes unmanageable and a recipe for frayed nerves,” she advises. “So, for example, when making the almond pastries, I make the paste one day when I can grab 10 minutes, and wrap it in (shop-bought) puff-pastry and bake it on another. I make the dough for my Speculaas biscuits in advance, too, and most of the biryani is made ahead as well.”
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This approach not only reduces stress but also allows more time to savour the festive moments with family and friends. “I’m interested in recipes that make life easier as well as more delicious!” Nigella says. “Not only does it make the cooking practically easier, it also helps from a psychological perspective: you’re prepared, and can look forward to having friends around your table.”
The Heart of Christmas with Nigella
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At the core of Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas is a celebration of what makes the holiday season truly special: the joy of cooking for loved ones, the magic of festive traditions, and the simple pleasure of being together. “The heart of Christmas lies in the moments we create and the love we share,” Nigella reflects. “Whether it’s through the glow of fairy lights, the aroma of spiced baking, or the laughter shared around a holiday table, it’s all about being present with those who matter most.”
This year, let Nigella’s passion for Christmas and cooking inspire your own holiday traditions. From her aromatic biryani to her effortless no-bake cake, her recipes promise to add a touch of warmth, wonder, and deliciousness to your celebrations. Join Nigella Lawson on BBC Player via Prime Video Channels for ‘Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas’ for new and inspiring recipes and kitchen tips.
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NIGELLA’S AMSTERDAM CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Indonesian-Inspired Chicken Biryani
Image courtesy: BBC Studios
INGREDIENTS
Serves: 8
For the Marinade:
• 150 grams plain yoghurt
• 4 tablespoons sambal oelek
• 2 tablespoons kecap manis
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 fat cloves of garlic (peeled and grated)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the Chicken:
• 10 decent-sized chicken thighs bone in, and skin removed and reserved (use 12 chicken thighs if using smaller-sized supermarket ones) approx. 1.2kg/2¾ lb total weight
• 500 grams onions (approx. 3 medium) peeled and cut into fine half-moons
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• For the Rice:
• 4 bruised cardamom pods
• 1 long or 2 short cinnamon sticks
• 2 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 25 grams desiccated coconut
• 2 teaspoons pink peppercorns
• 2 litres of cold water
• 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 600 grams basmati rice
For Layering Up:
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (toasted)
• 25 grams desiccated coconut
• 50 grams dried cranberries
• To Serve:
• the reserved chicken skin
• fresh coriander
METHOD
Marinate the Chicken: Pour or scrape out the yogurt into a dish in which the chicken pieces can fit in a single layer; I use a rectangular Pyrex dish measuring 32cm x 24cm / 9 x 13 inches. Add 4 tablespoons of Sambal Oelek, 2 tablespoons of Kecap Manis, 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste, 1 tablespoon of grated ginger and mince or grate in 2 fat cloves of garlic, followed by 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of peppery, piney cardamom, 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric, half a teaspoon of salt and, finally, a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and gently whisk or stir to mix until you have a uniformly vibrant gloop! Add the skinless, bone-in chicken thighs to the marinade, swiping them in the mixture so that they’re all coated by it, and leave to marinate while you prepare and cook the onions.
Cook the Onions: Peel the onions, halve them, and cut them into half-moons. Heat the oil in a large (and, importantly, wide) pan or casserole, that’s non-stick, sturdy and comes with a lid, and that can take the chicken in a single layer; I use a pan that’s a whisper under 32cm in diameter, but if you haven’t got a pan big enough it might be better to cook the chicken in two batches. Cook the onions on high for the first 5 minutes, then continue to cook — stirring frequently — for another 20-30 minutes, turning down the heat if they look as if they’re colouring or crisping up: you want these soft, but pale.
Cook the Chicken: Once the onions are ready, take the chicken pieces out of the marinade with a pair of tongs or a couple of forks, and arrange them bone-side down in the pan, pushing the onions over them as you go. Once all the chicken is in the pan, scrape out any marinade remaining in the dish over the chicken, turn the heat to high, clamp on the lid, and cook for 15 minutes at a fast simmer. Take the lid off the pan and turn the chicken pieces over, mixing them in the sauce as you do so. Let simmer away robustly for a further 30 minutes, this time uncovered, keeping an eye on the pan, and spooning some of the sauce over the chicken pieces every now and again, until the chicken’s cooked through, and the sauce richly coloured, reduced and thickened, just cleaving to the chicken. You may need to remove the chicken thighs and give the sauce a bit of bubbling on its own if it’s still runny; so much depends on the size of the pan you’re using.
Cool and Refrigerate: Put the chicken and its scant sauce back in the (now washed up!) dish it marinated in earlier to cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight or for a couple of days. While you can serve the biryani with the chicken thighs whole, it will go a lot further (and be easier to eat) if you debone them at this stage, tearing them into chunks when you reheat them later.
Prepare the Rice: When you’re ready to proceed with the biryani, whether it’s a day later or two days later, you can make a start on the rice. Begin by scenting the water it’s going to cook in to make the rice gorgeously aromatic. Drop the cardamom pods into a large pan with a good sturdy base and a tightly fitting lid (I use one of 26cm/10in diameter, with a capacity of 5.3 litres) followed by the cinnamon stick or sticks, 2 cloves, 3 star anise, 25g desiccated coconut and 2 teaspoons of pink peppercorns. Pour over the 2 litres/8⅓ cups of water, add 2 tablespoons of fine salt, a teaspoon of lime juice and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and bring to a boil with the lid on. Once it comes to the boil, switch the heat off, and leave it on the warm hob, covered, to let the water gloriously infuse.
Soak the Rice: Meanwhile, rinse the rice and leave it in a bowl covered with cold water to soak for 30 minutes, and no longer. Towards the end of its soaking time, put the chicken thighs back in the pan you cooked them in to reheat gently, and bring the aromatic water back to the boil again. (See Step 13 at this stage too.)
Cook the Rice: When the rice has had its 30 minutes’ soaking, drain it well, and use a slotted spoon to add the rice gradually to the boiling scented water; if you dump it in all at once, it’ll make the temperature of the water drop too much. Put the lid on to let it come back to a boil faster (though keep checking it has come back to a proper boil), and once it has, boil for 2 minutes with the lid on. Test the rice is cooked enough by rubbing a grain of rice between your fingers to see if it breaks into 2 or 3 bits, before draining well.
Layer the Biryani: Wipe the pan out well, and brush the bottom with a teaspoon of sesame oil, then spoon in half of the rice. Scatter over half of the toasted cumin seeds, half of the desiccated coconut, and half of the cranberries. Arrange the reheated chicken thighs in an even layer on top of the rice, scraping over any sauce that remains in their pan. Cover with the rest of the rice, and scatter again with the remaining cumin, coconut and cranberries.
Steam the Biryani: Make a tight seal on top of the pot with foil and then put the lid on. Place over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, to let the steam build up — you should be able to hear when it starts bubbling — and then turn down for a further 15-16 minutes more on low, to give it 20 minutes in total.
Rest the Biryani: Turn off the flame (or take the pan off the heat) and carefully remove the foil — you should be greeted with a gentle puff of steam — and replace it with a clean tea towel, then clamp the lid back on, and leave for a further 20 minutes off the heat, though more wouldn’t matter.
Make Chicken Crackling: While the biryani steams, use the reserved chicken skin to make crisp sheets and shards of crackling. Fry the skins in batches in a pan with a little oil for about 5 minutes on each side, pressing down regularly, until they’re a dark gold and crisping up. Alternatively, use an air fryer set to its hottest temperature for 12-18 minutes (depending on the model). Keep the rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) for later use.
Serve: Spoon out the biryani tenderly onto a platter or a large dish, arranging the chicken and rice to their best advantage. Scrape out the bottom of the pot well, making sure to add any crispy bits on top. Crumble over the chicken crackling and scatter with freshly chopped coriander.
Additional Information
Make Ahead: The chicken can be cooked a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate as soon as cool and within 2 hours of cooking. The chicken can also be marinated overnight in the fridge.
Leftovers: It is not advisable to reheat leftovers as the chicken has already been reheated once in the biryani and should not be reheated again. Any leftovers must be refrigerated as soon as cool (within 2 hours) and eaten cold within 48 hours.
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Nigella’s Banket Bars
Image courtesy: BBC Studios
INGREDIENTS
Makes: 16
To Make the Almond Paste Filling (to be done a day before the baking of the Banket Bars):
• 250 grams blanched almonds
• 250 grams caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of an unwaxed lemon (you’ll need the juice for the glaze)
• 1/8 teaspoon / drop or two of rosewater
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 large egg
• To Make the Banket Bars:
• 1 large egg
• Pinch of salt
• 325 or 320 grams ready-rolled all-butter frozen puff pastry (which has been thawed overnight in the fridge)
• 2 x 270 grams logs of almond paste
For the Apricot Glaze:
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 30 grams flaked almonds
For the Icing Glaze:
• 60 grams icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or as needed to make a runny icing to zigzag over the Banket Bars)
METHOD
• Before you start, tear off a piece of baking parchment about 45cm/17 inches long and place it on the kitchen counter with the short side facing you (conveniently, most baking parchments are 38cm/15 inches in width, which is more or less exactly how long you want each log to be) and sit a jar or canister on the far end to help stop it curling back on itself.
• Clatter the blanched almonds into the bowl of a processor, add the sugar, and process until finely ground. Starting off with whole almonds rather than ready ground makes for a much more luscious texture. And adding the sugar along with the almonds stops them from forming an oily clump on mixing.
• Once the nuts are ground, add the lemon zest, rosewater, and salt, crack in the egg, and blitz again until the mixture forms a thick but lightly perfumed grainy paste in the processor bowl.
• Tip out and squodge the sticky mixture together with your hands, before dividing into two pieces. (And I actually weigh the paste for this, so I can make sure I have exactly the same amount for each log; there may well be some small deviation, but I find I generally end up with two clumps of slightly gritty paste of around 270g/10oz each.) Sit one of the pieces on the baking parchment and, with your hands, form into a rough sausage shape pretty much the width of the baking parchment, but don’t worry about it being particularly even at this stage.
• Place this clumpy almond-paste sausage, not worrying about cracks, horizontally on the baking parchment, about 5cm/2 inches from the bottom. Cover it with the bit of parchment closest to you. Then, as if it were a rolling pin, place the flat of your hands gently over it and roll up and down, moving your hands as needed to help you get an even shape, until you have a fairly slender log — around 3cm/1¼ inches diameter or a whisper under — of almond paste which pretty much comes to each end of the parchment.
• Wrap this covered log with the rest of the parchment it’s sitting on, as a first layer, then wrap well with clingfilm, as you don’t want this tender, fragrant paste to dry out, then pop into the fridge until needed, where it can stay for up to 3 days. And then repeat exactly the same process for the second piece of almond paste. The day before you plan to turn these lengths of almond paste into Banket Bars, take the puff pastry out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw.
• When you want to bake them, heat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC Fan/425ºF and line a flat baking sheet with parchment.
• Crack the egg into a cup or little jug, add the salt and whisk to make an egg wash, setting aside for now, although you might as well get a pastry brush (I much prefer a silicon pastry brush to a bristle one) at the same time.
• Take the thawed puff pastry straight from the fridge — you don’t want it sitting around in the kitchen as the warmer it gets, the stickier it becomes. Unroll it from its packaging, cut it in half lengthways, and pop one of the halves back in the fridge, taking one of the almond paste logs out at the same time.
• Should you have a silicone rolling mat, place the rectangular piece of puff pastry horizontally on it; otherwise, dust a clean, flat surface lightly with flour. Unroll the almond paste log from its wrapping and lie it, also horizontally, in the middle of the puff-pastry sheet; the long sausage of almond paste should pretty much go right to the ends of the puff pastry.
• Paint the exposed surface of puff pastry either side of the almond paste with the egg wash, and then tenderly pick up the far side of the egg-washed pastry and cover the almond paste log with it, then roll it towards you so that it’s covered in the pastry. Press the seam in gently with your fingers to stick it down and smooth it, and cut away any excess pastry from the ends, so that the paste and pastry are flush, and leave the long log seam side down.
• With a sharp and preferably serrated knife, cut this long log into 8 pieces. I do this by cutting the log first in half, then in half again, and so on until I have 8 more or less equal rolls. If you want to get a ruler out instead, by all means do so: some of us feel reassured by ultra-precision and some of us are irritated by it; you should do whatever makes you happier! Place the rolls carefully seam-side down onto your lined flat baking sheet and paint with egg wash, then pop the tray into the hot oven to bake for 15 minutes by which time they should be plump and puffy — who isn’t at Christmas? — and golden on top.
• Slide the paper off with the little banket bars on it onto a wire cooling rack or just straight onto the kitchen counter. Some of the almond paste may have popped out of the pastry at the ends, with a little char at the edges, but just squeeze them back in. I have asbestos hands, so just use my fingers, but it would be wiser to use a couple of spoons or other implements of your choice. And I should say that one of the reasons I like to cut the banketstaaf into short lengths before baking, is that this way the almond paste at each end slightly scorches, taking on the taste and texture of deeply caramelly marzipan.
• While the Banket Bars are cooking, mix the apricot jam and lemon juice together in one little bowl (removing any pieces of apricot) and have the flaked almonds ready in another. In yet another little bowl, whisk the icing sugar with a 15ml tablespoon of lemon juice or as much as needed to give you a thick but still flowing icing. This icing isn’t a universal feature of banketstaaf, but its bright sharpness adds an enlivening zing, and who doesn’t want that?
• As soon as the Banket Bars have come out of the oven, had the ends pressed in and have been slipped off the baking sheet, paint them immediately with the apricot jam and lemon mixture, then sprinkle each roll with about half a teaspoon of flaked almonds. Finally, using a teaspoon (and I favour one with a rather pointy end) zigzag each Banket Bar with some of the lemony icing, and leave on the baking parchment to cool.
• Continue with the second batch, though you may want to add a little more lemon juice to the icing, as it tends to thicken on standing.
Additional Information
Make Ahead: The almond paste can be made ahead. Keep the tightly wrapped logs in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freeze: The almond paste logs can also be frozen. Wrap the parchment-covered logs tightly with a double layer of foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost the almond paste logs for 12-24 hours in the fridge with the puff pastry.
Store: The Banket Bars are at their best on the day of making. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for a day or two.